AlohaLivin

I think what many are saying is that Cruise planner prices fluctuate wildly.  Unfortunately, there is no predicting when a sale will happen, and when it does happen, there is always a time limit on it.  Usually, it's a weekend sale.  On some browers, a banner up top is visible with a countdown clock.  On other browsers, it doesn't come up.  It is true that some RC agents are better than others on the phone.  I can sympathize with you as I have had my share of annoying ones to deal with over the years.  Although not much can probably be done at this point, a tip for the future that many of us do is to go ahead and purchase on the cruise planner (even if there's not a sale) and then watch it.  Or in your specific case, you could have purchased your excursion, then discussed with family, and then cancelled if you decided against it.  You are able to re-price or even cancel (without penalty) up to 3 days prior to sailing.  When is your sail date?  Cruise planner sales pop up every few weeks or so.  Keep checking back.  There will likely be one for Labour Day....Don't let this ruin your vacation...you're in an owner's suite...that alone is really exciting!

^^^^^^^^^That's exactly what I did. Why feel the hassle when someone else can do it for you.

The first thing I would suggest is letting a TA handle that stuff. That’s why they’re there. I suggest MEI Travel, a sponsor of this blog, and a terrific agency. I never, ever, ever talk to RC on the phone. 

SORRY to hear about the RUDE rep you encountered. We have had that happen to us on several occasions.  We have found between the hrs. of 9-5 weekdays you will get the most polite and knowledgeable people.  And all of the comments in this post are correct.  We constantly book and re book excursions, drink pkgs.,etc.   Their is another sale going on now as well. Also it never hurts to ask for a supervisor.  If you don`t use a travel agent you may want to consider one.  An excellent company is MEI.  They can work a lot of magic in resolving issues better than most of us. There is also the option of doing non RC excursions which we do quite often.  Look on trip adviser and cruise critic for ideas.  WELCOME to the blog and to Royal Caribbean.  Hoping you have  a great cruise.

First I apologize on RCI's behalf, they usually aren't outright rude but occasionally you get someone with a bad day/bad attitude.
Unfortunately though RCI does have some issues (as do all companies and all cruise lines) incredibly poor websites and an obsession with constant, random, unpredictable sales pitches are two of them. If you wait about 10 minutes and check the pricing again, there will probably be a different sale running by then and you might be able to get it cheaper than it was on Monday (almost a serious statement).
I literally cancelled and rebooked my catamaran sailing excursion 4 times in a ten day period earlier this year as the price bounced all over the place ... only to have RCI cancel the excursion entirely shortly before the cruise once all the good alternatives were sold out :(
Fortunately or Unfortunately (depending on whether you own stock or work for the company) the demand for cruises is very strong and frankly I do think there is some truth to your statement that RCI (and others) really don't care if they lose a guest at the moment ... the line of "new" guests is long.

Every now and then you get one of those! I had a crummy experience a week or so ago. Call back and I hope you get someone who is having a better day.
As far as cruise planner, the same thing happened to me TWICE. I tried to buy excursions for our upcoming Mediterranean cruise and waited until the next day to make the purchase and " lo and behold" the total had gone up overnight by about $100.00 total. I purchased them at that price and a few weeks later there was a cruise planner sale so I cancelled and rebooked at the lower price. You can do that too; just keep an eye on the sales.
And here is a strange one: I was going to book Chops Dining for lunch-listed at "$17.00"pp and when I put it in my cart the next day it had gone up to $22.00. I did not know the specialty restaurant prices changed!
I'm sorry about your negative experience. I've been cruising with them since 1997 and I've noticed some changes recently that are bothersome. I hope they manage to rid themselves of the bad apples.